Rodrigo Russo is a Director in Control Risks’ Compliance, Forensics and Intelligence practice in Brazil, focusing on asset tracing, business intelligence and due diligence. Rodrigo leads the research team in a wide range of investigative projects in South America for multinationals, local companies and law firms.

Examples of Rodrigo’s recent projects include:

• Pre-investment reputational due diligence for a multinational company. The company sought to assess potential corruption risks related to sponsoring a think tank led by a high-level Brazilian politician. Rodrigo’s report provided the client with material information to support its decision based on a thorough analysis of publicly available documents, media articles and discreet source enquiries.
• Business intelligence for a multinational auto company. The client was interested in identifying assets to enforce the decision of an arbitration tribunal against a former business partner. Rodrigo led the efforts to map the shareholding structure used by the former business partner to defraud creditors; he also identified a series of fraudulent real estate transactions conducted by the former business partner’s controlling family that could be challenged in courts.

Prior to joining Control Risks, Rodrigo served as a Brazil-based senior correspondent for a global newswire, where his reporting focused on antitrust, corruption and data protection regulation and enforcement. Rodrigo worked as a journalist for almost a decade at Folha de S. Paulo, one of Brazil’s most widely read newspapers, where he was a correspondent based in Europe and an opinions editor. Rodrigo began his professional career as an intern at a top-tier Brazilian law firm.

Rodrigo holds a Master of Science in political sociology from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he was awarded a Chevening Scholarship. Rodrigo also holds a law degree from Universidade de São Paulo and a journalism degree from Faculdade Cásper Líbero. He is a native Portuguese speaker, speaks fluent English and has a working knowledge of Spanish and French.